24-06-2025
Henrico water wins top North America prize. For real.
Henrico County has the best-tasting tap water in North America, according to the American Water Works Association.
Why it matters: As we all learned earlier this year, Henrico's water, at least in part of the county, is basically Richmond water.
And Richmond water is a lot of things, but award-winning aint one.
State of play: Henrico County won the "Best of the Best Water Taste Test" award at the association's annual conference in Denver, the county announced last week.
The international nonprofit sampled water from 26 localities across the country and in Canada to find the very best.
The judges scored the samples on "odor, flavor and aftertaste" to declare the winner. (Sadly, score cards weren't available.)
And Henrico's water, which is pumped in straight from the James, was the clear favorite, beating out two other finalists — Taylorsville Bennion Valley, Utah and Ames, Iowa — to claim the water crown.
Fun fact: About one-third of Henrico's water comes from Richmond. The rest of it comes from the county's Three Chopt water treatment facility, per the release.
Zoom in: Henrico was eligible to participate on the international best water stage because the association's state chapter last year named the county's tap water the best-tasting in Virginia, WWBT reported in December.
The county's water employees "are the 'secret sauce' to the water's excellence," Alvin Christian, assistant director of Henrico's public utilities, told WWBT.
💅 The intrigue: Only municipalities with " no violations from their respective health departments in the past year" were eligible for the competition, Henrico noted in its release.
